Winter weather takes a toll on Upstate Peachoid

Gaffney's Peachoid — a one-million-gallon water tank and the city's most recognizable landmark — will be temporarily repaired after chunks of paint peeled from the crevice with this winter's fluctuating temperatures.

Gaffney's Peachoid — a one-million-gallon water tank and the city's most recognizable landmark — will be temporarily repaired after chunks of paint peeled from the crevice with this winter's fluctuating temperatures.

Gaffney Board of Public Works owns the Peachoid, which was erected in 1981 and has been repainted twice.

BPW General Manager Donnie Hardin said areas of paint — about six to 10 feet in diameter — started peeling from the Peachoid recently, mostly due to freezing and warmer temperatures through the winter.

“With extreme cold, fluctuating temperatures, it caused more damage than normal,” Hardin said. “Two areas flaked off the tank, and we'll have those repaired in two to three weeks.”

The patches are in the crevice of the peach, Hardin said.

“That's where most of the pressure in the tank builds, so that's exactly where we'd expect to see the paint to come off,” Hardin said, adding that missing areas of paint haven't been an issue in the past.

The BPW plans to patch the damaged areas until the Peachoid is completely repainted in the fall. Hardin said the Peachoid was scheduled to be repainted in three to five years.

The utility has a maintenance contract with a North Carolina-based company for repairs to the water tank, and the patched painting will be covered under the contract.

Hardin said even touching up the Peachoid is an intricate process.

“The Peachoid is unusual,” Hardin said. “It uses a lot of different colors, so there's an actual grid so the Peachoid looks like an actual peach.”